Other engine problem on the 2010 Nissan Maxima
When other engine problem gets reported
Owners of the 2010 Nissan Maxima report other engine problem at a median of 65,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 50,000 miles and a quarter after 75,000 miles, from 11 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 7th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 5,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 80,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 75,148 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
18% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,975 miles | 47,500 miles | 67,000 miles | 73,500 miles | 78,123 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $300–$4,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 20 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 1997, at a median of 20,000 miles, and latest on the 2002 at 110,000 miles.
By volume the 2003 carries the most reports, with 67; the 2010 has 13. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
While doing normal driving, on two occasions, one coming down a slight hill and planning to stop at a corner, and once when pulling into my carport, with foot lightly on the brake, I noticed the engine racing at 2000 RPM or so, trying to accelerate. Was able to hold car with footbrake, and, after stopping, problem did not seem to repeat immediately. *tr
My husband & I purchased the 2007 nissan maxima for our daughter who is now expecting her first child. My husband borrowed her car to drive my sister husband and children back to atlanta airport mind you speed limit on i75 is 70mph, when this maxima locked up and shut down in the middle of a 6 lane hwy. Thankfully he was able to coast across the hwy to the shoulder and the car smelled so my husband called my insurance co. My sister ended up taking a taxi and we had to have the car towed 95 miles ($282.00). Pye nissan has the car in dalton and the service tech said the compressor locked up and blew all the belts due to me not having the compressor lubricated. The car warranty expired just a few months ago and nissan said that there is nothing they can due and wants $1000.00 to fix this. I have called another nissan dealership and the service tech at this dealership said that he never heard of the compressor being lubricated and he has been with nissan for 20 years. Where is justice when you purchase a $30,000.00 car after 3 yrs a major part like this going, I just thank god it was my husband driving and not my pregnant daughter. I…
Tl* the contact owns a 2010 nissan maxima. The contact stated that while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The failure was recurring. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis but they were unable to duplicate the problem. The manufacturer was not notified. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 52,000.
Also reported on the 2010 Nissan Maxima
No-start or intermittent start failure
Other steering problem
Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure
Other electrical problem
Steering column or shaft failure
Other body or interior problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 13 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other engine problem happen on the 2010 Nissan Maxima?
Across 11 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 65,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 50,000 miles and a quarter after 75,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other engine problem on the 2010 Nissan Maxima?
13 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 2.0 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed